Brandon Lucas is one happy, excited kid. Brandon, 11, a son of Denny and Doreen Lucas of Plum, is teaming with John Harrison, official taste tester for Edy's Grand Ice Cream, on one of the sweetest jobs imaginable. A new Edy's "Official Kid Taster," Brandon has been invited to Edy's Ice Cream Factory in the San Francisco Bay area Dec. 13 through 16 to demonstrate his tasting talent with nine other "Kid Tasters" from across the United States. Edy's launched its "Kid Ice Cream Taster Contest" earlier this year to locate 10 kids who are simply wild about ice cream. Children ages 6 to 14 were invited to submit an entry explaining: "Why I would be a great ice cream taster." In addition to a behind-the-scenes tour of the factory, Brandon will put his taste buds to the test on gallons of Edy's top-secret flavors during a marathon tasting session to ensure the very best "kid-approved" ice cream always is available in supermarket freezer aisles. To sweeten the prize, Brandon also will receive a one-year supply of ice cream so his taste buds continue to work at full capacity. Brandon scooped up this cool honor after being selected from more than 12,000 pint-sized ice cream fans. His "job application," which was submitted via e-mail, demonstrated an abundance of enthusiasm, crea- tivity and originality - and a passion for ice cream. The young ice cream connoisseur bedazzled Edy's panel of judges by highlighting the Top 10 events in his life that revolved around ice cream - from his first kiddie cone to the time his mom dyed vanilla ice cream purple so he could have "Barney" ice cream for his birthday. Brandon has been honing his skills for this job for his entire lifetime. "I wrote a song. Instead of 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' it was 'Take Me Out for Some Ice Cream,' " he says. He was visiting a friend when his family learned he was declared a winner. For his homecoming, they surprised him with balloons, cake and, what else, ice cream. "I was so excited to find out I won," Brandon says. "I love ice cream. I'm so happy I'll get to taste all the flavors and get to go on a trip to California. I've never been there before, and that's cool, too." His parents and brother, Ryan, 13, who also entered the contest, will travel with him. On their first day in San Francisco they will attend a dinner to meet other winners and Edy's officials. Then comes the factory tour, where he will meet Harrison, the man whose taste buds are insured for $1 million, and, finally, the event Brandon anticipates excitedly - the ice cream tasting, where he and his fellow nine tasters will be encouraged to gorge themselves on ice cream. "You might think that getting paid to eat ice cream is too good to be true ... but I'm here to tell you this dream job really does exist," Harrison says. "I have tasted more than 180 million gallons of ice cream during my cool career, and I'm looking forward to teaching the tricks of the trade to Brandon, one of the nation's biggest ice cream fans." How many flavors will he have to sample? "I haven't a clue, but I think 75 or 80 flavors," Brandon says, noting the most ice cream he has eaten at one time is three cones. And, yes, he has a favorite flavor. "My favorite is Halloween M&Ms, because I really love M&Ms, and its got fudge and chocolate and M&Ms in it." Brandon is the perfect ambassador for an ice cream manufacturer. Ice cream is his favorite dessert, all the time, any time. "I have ice cream every day," he says. "Ice cream is special. I like all flavors, and it is so cool and refreshing. After you do (an activity), it's really good. "And whenever I'm going to bed, I always come back down for a snack of ice cream," he adds.

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